Nail holding and spacing device



E. J. MILLER.

NAIL HOLDING ANDISPACING DEVICE. APPLICATION FILED-OCT- 51 I920- 1,378,559. Patented y 17, 19 21.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ELI J'. MILLER, OF YORK, PENNSYLVANIA.

NAIL HOLDING AND SPACING DEVICE.

7 To all whom it may concern Be it known that" I, ELI J. MILLER, a

citizen of the United States, residing at means may be detached, and the nails driven home.

My invention is particularly adapted for I holding rows of nails in connection with the shoemakers art. This is particularly true, and my invention is particularly useful in connection with the half soling and heeling of boots and shoes, although, of course, it may be used in making new shoes. In half soling and heeling shoes the soles are frequently made to keep their position by driviriiiga row of nails along the outer edge. 'In e ecting this operation the workman, in ordinary practice, picks up the nails one by one and holds them between {@his fingers while he starts them with the tap of the hammer and then drives them home. Sometimes the starting hole is produced by the perforation of an awl.

My invention-is designed to obviate the loss of time and labor involved in picking up the brads or nails one by one, starting them one by one, and also removes the difficulty of holding such small objects in true position, 'and also the difficulty of seeing that they are in true position.

In the drawing I have shown in 4 Figure. 1 a view of my strip for holding nails.

Fig. 2 the same strip with a series of nails held in place. Fig. 3 a view of the strip of slightly modified form.

' Fig. 4 is a view of the same strip with the I nails in place.

Fig. 5 is an outline view of one of my nails.

Fig. 6 is an Fig. 7 shows one .of my strlps with the outline view of another.

I nails therein coiled in a package; and

Fig. 8 is the outline of the shoe sole showlng the method of application.

1 1s the strip of rubber or other similar fle nble mater al having a rubber-like or gripplng quality, of substantial thickness, that is of a thickness suflicient "to hold in firm pos1tion the nails 2 used in attaching the sole to the bottom of a shoe; and this .strip is provided along one face with a series of vertical or inclined recesses 3 molded or otherwise made in the strip, and each of these recesses is connected by a kerf or slit 4 to the near face 5 of the strip, so that when the strip is moved in the direction indicated by the arrow away from the driven nails the latter will be stripped therefrom, the shank of the nail escaping through said kerf orslit.

The kerfs or slits 4 leading to the recesses Specification of Letters lateilt. Patented M 17, 1921.

Application filed October 5, 1920. Serial No. 414,903.

3 may be straight, inclined, angled or curved and may lead directly to the recesses and be 1 perpendicular to the face 5- or they may be oblique or inclined relative to the face 5.

Of course, other substances having physical properties like those of rubber, may be employed, the special need being that they can grip the nails, and I wish to be understood as using the words rubber and rubber-like with the significance here indicated.

I show in Fig. 2 the head of the nails 2 in the strip; It will be seen that part of the shank and head are left extending above the strip while the pointed ends or points of the nails are about even with the other or bottom face of the strip. These strips are made in vulcanizing molds, or inany other suitable way, and the nails are placed in. them by hand or any other suitable means. The nails should fit the holes tightly, of course, so'that there is some slight distortion of the rubber or other equivalent material-the material being pushed aside to some extent, perhaps an infinitesimal degree.

These strips are then coiled as shown in Fig. 7 and preferably the coils should be maker or bench workman. This coil or bundle of strips of tacks or nails I have marked in the drawing with the number 6.

In using the device as shown ,in Fig. 8,

the workman grasps the coil 6 or the strip awl, and in this hole he places the first nail 2 of the series. He then, with his left hand,

holds the strip in lace around the edge of the sole of the s 0e and taps with the hammer along the heads of the nails and follows the outline of the shoe until he gets 1 around to the starting point, or as near to that point as he cares to go. He may do this also around the heel or heel part.

After the nails are started and firmly attached to the sole, and after they have been;

driven through the sole in part, the work- 'man divides the strip where the work ends.

He now has a row of partly driven nails all around near the edge of the sole. These nails are held in a strip of rubber or other suitable material, one hole to each nail, and connected with each of these holes is a kerf or slit l before mentioned.

The workman may now seize one end of the strip and tear it ofi or remove it from the nails by an outward pull, since the rubber or other material will open at eachof these" slits and allow the shank of the nail to pass through. After this is done the workman simply drives the nails home all around the nailing is concerned.

In Figs. 3, 4 and 6 I have shown the same strip provided with recesses for the cut nails 10 shown in Fig. 6 of pyramidal or prismatic shape. These nails are seated in the comparatively square recesses 11, and are held in place by a strip of paper or cloth 12, glued or cemented in position, thus holding the shoe and the job is completed so far as the nails 10, as shown, beneath the paper.

This strip is also coiled into a package 6. The paper or other material used should preferably be of a flimsy fragile character, so that the strip 1 may be easily removed from the attached nails 10. I

It-will thus be seen that I have invented an article of manufacture extremely useful inthe matter of saving time of the workman, well adapted to use by comparatively unskilled persons, one which regularly spaces the nails all around the sole of a shoe, and one which affords facilities for handling nails in large numbers rather than individually, as has been customary heretofore. I have specified rubber as the material which I have regarded most suitable, but I reserve the right to use any suitable material of flexible or elastic nature, and I have shown the device in connection with nails of various kinds.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Let-- ters Patent of the United States is:

1. In a nail-holding and spacing device, a strip of flexible elastic rubber-like material of substantial thickness and width provided with recesses along one face, said recesses strip of rubber of width and thickness suit .able for holding nails, said strip provided with recesses along one edge and communicating with a face of the strip, and nails arranged in said recesses.

3. As a new article of manufacture, a'nailholding and spacing strip consisting of a strip of rubber of width and thickness suitable for holding nails, said strip having recesses, each of dimensions suitable'to hold a nail, extending through the strip, and 'being open to a face of the strip whereby said strip may be withdrawn sidewise from a row of started nails driven partly into the material to be nailed.

4. As a new article of manufacture, a

strip of flexible rubber-like material provided with a row of pockets near. one edge,

said pockets leadin to said edge and a nail held by the grip o the materialin each of said pockets, the pointed ends of said nailsbeing near one face of the strip and the.

heads extending beyond the opposite face of the strip, whereby arow of nails may be started, the strip then detached from the started nails and the nails then driven home.

5. As a new article of manufacture, a package consisting of a coiled strip of flexible elastic rubber-like material provided with a series of regularly spaced pockets, nails held in said pockets by the grip of the material, the heads of the nails extending. beyond the strip, the construction beingsuch that after the nails have been started and partly driven home the strip may be removed from the started nails, and the nails driven home. I

6. As a new article of manufacture, a

strip of thick rubber provided with a row of regula'rlyspaced holes extending through the rubber, the material between each hole and a faceof the strip being divided to permit the passage of a nail, a nail in-each of said holes, with its pointed end near the bot- ,tom of the hole and its-head extending above the hole, and said strip being made into a coincident substantially with the said face package. of the flexible strip, said recesses being 7. A strip of substantially continuous spaced apart at nail using distances substan- 10 flexible rubber-like material provided with tially, and a strip of paper pasted along said 5 recesses along one edge, nails fitting snugly face and over said nails.

and held by the grip of the flexible ma- In testimony whereofI afiix my signature. terial in said recesses arranged with one face ELI J. MILLER. 

